LAST SEASON
For most teams, a 26-point decrease in year-to-year success would be the sort of disaster that costs people their jobs. For the Bruins, it just meant 109 points and home ice in the first round. Such was the dominance of the 2022-23 B’s.
Having lost Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retirement and Dmitry Orlov, Taylor Hall, and Tyler Bertuzzi in free agency, the Bruins knew a drop-off was coming. Led by superstars David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and the goaltending battery of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, a revamped Boston roster managed to stay in the division race until the final day of the season anyway.
Better still, they washed away the memory of a postseason choke in 2023 by winning a Game 7 over the hated Toronto Maple Leafs before the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers overwhelmed them in Round 2.
Heartened by an overachieving 2023-24 season, Bruins GM Don Sweeney signed center Elias Lindholm and towering lefty blueliner Nikita Zadorov to a pair of high-risk, high-reward contracts. Sweeney thinks he’s finally replaced Zdeno Chara and Bergeron. Will the on-ice returns prove him right?
KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES
Additions
Elias Lindholm, C
Nikita Zadorov, D
Joonas Korpisalo, G
Max Jones, LW
Riley Tufte, LW
Mark Kastelic, C
Vinni Lettieri, C
Cole Koepke, LW
Departures
Linus Ullmark, G (Ott)
Jake DeBrusk, RW (Van)
Kevin Shattenkirk, D (UFA)
James van Riemsdyk, LW (UFA)
Danton Heinen, LW (Van)
Jakub Lauko, LW (Min)
Derek Forbort, D (Van)
Oskar Steen, C (SHL)
Jesper Boqvist, C (Fla)
Milan Lucic, LW (UFA)
OFFENSE
The Bruins offense lives and dies with Pastrnak, the Czech superstar involved in more than 41% of goals for Boston’s 12th-ranked attack in 2023-24. ‘Pasta’ notched 47 tallies last year despite shooting 12.3%, more than a full tick down from his career average. If he can shoot with his usual efficiency in 2024-25, his improved playmaking ability (career-high 63 A) could land him in the thick of the Art Ross race.
Expect Lindholm to be Pastrnak’s new best friend on Boston’s top line. The big Swede scuffled to just 44 points between stops in Calgary and Vancouver before a strong postseason (5 G, 10 P in 13 GP) boosted his value. He’s no Bergeron, but his physical strength, sneaky release, and defensive responsibility have helped him ride shotgun with star players in the past; he scored at a 74-point pace during four seasons with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk for the Flames.
Lindholm’s presence on the top line will take some pressure off Pavel Zacha, who will likely shift back to the wing, and Charlie Coyle. The two had the impossible job of replacing Bergeron and Krejci down the middle, and though they managed career-best 59 and 60-point seasons, respectively, they’re better served in complementary roles.
Coyle and captain Brad Marchand (29 G, 67 P) developed chemistry throughout last season and could link up with versatile forward Morgan Geekie (17 G, 39 P) now that Jake DeBrusk is gone. Coach Jim Montgomery trusts Geekie with big minutes (15:25 ATOI) but would prefer if AHL All-Star Georgii Merkulov or 2021 first-rounder Fabian Lysell could seize the position in camp.
Power forward Trent Frederic (18 G, 204 hits) and 20-year-old Matt Poitras (15 P in 33 GP) will provide some bottom-six scoring pop in sheltered minutes. Justin Brazeau (5 G in 19 GP) and speedster Max Jones (62 P in 258 career GP) will have to make the most of limited playing time behind them.
On the blueline, Charlie McAvoy posted his third consecutive 40-point season in 2023-24 and is a shoo-in for the top power play. Hampus Lindholm was not so lucky and saw his scoring cut in half from 53 points in ‘22-23 to 26 a season ago. His baseline probably falls somewhere in between.
DEFENSE
Boston finished sixth in scoring defense, but that had more to do with another brilliant season of the Swayman-Ullmark double act than the execution of the team in front of them. The Bruins weren’t bad, but there were growing pains in the first season post-Bergeron; they just about broke even in every puck possession metric as Montgomery used nine different defensemen for at least 15 games.
Barring injury, the Zadorov signing will stop the rotating door. The Bruins’ group of seven is set in stone, and it’s formidable on paper.
The Russian will immediately draw into the lineup opposite McAvoy, who cycled through three regular partners last year. Though he’s never cracked the 20-minute mark in average ice time, Sweeney is betting Zadorov can keep up the level he achieved during an excellent postseason (8 P in 13 GP, 53.63% of expected goals). His physicality (6’6, 248 lbs) and willingness to do the grunt work in the net-front area and the corners will allow McAvoy a level of freedom he did not have alongside the diminutive Matt Grzelcyk.
Montgomery prefers to spread Lindholm and McAvoy’s minutes over two pairs, and his second unit of Lindholm and shutdown righty Brandon Carlo would make an excellent top option on most teams. Their combined +134 rating over the past two seasons attests to that.
Andrew Peeke impressed in a limited role after arriving in Boston from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He and Parker Wotherspoon meshed well in a small sample as a stay-at-home third pair, but Mason Lohrei’s puck skills and pedigree give him the inside track to play with Peeke next season.
GOALTENDING
The Bruins got 82 games of dominance from Swayman and Ullmark in 2023-24 as the goaltenders posted nearly identical numbers en route to a combined 2.55 GAA and .915 SV%. They propped up a team in flux, posting the third-highest team SV% of any goaltending group as both players finished in the top seven of Vezina Trophy voting.
All good things must come to an end, and Don Sweeney had no choice but to trade Ullmark after Swayman, five years his junior and due for a new contract, took the ball and ran with it in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (.933 SV% in 12 GP).
Ullmark, who posted an obscene .924 SV% over three seasons in New England, is now with the Ottawa Senators. Part of the return was Joonas Korpisalo, whose play (21-26-4, .890 SV%) sunk Ottawa’s postseason chances early and often. Korpisalo has had just three productive seasons as an NHL netminder in eight tries. The Bruins will hope he hits the ground running as a full-time backup.
If Swayman goes down or Korpisalo gets himself waived, 26-year-old Western Michigan alum Brandon Bussi is the next man up. He has pro size and has posted a .918 SV% over two seasons with AHL Providence.
COACHING
Squeezing 109 points out of the 2023-24 Bruins roster would have garnered Jack Adams Award consideration for any other coach, but it only got Jim Montgomery on a handful of ballots after his 2023 win. ‘Monty’ got more credit for steering one of the most stacked rosters of the salary cap era to a record-setting season than for keeping last year’s B’s among the NHL’s elite with a comparative skeleton crew.
Next season, he won’t have to adjust on the fly nearly as much; the Lindholm and Zadorov signings should give Montgomery a much clearer vision for the top of his lineup. The Bruins coach is one of the best in the business and at the top of his game.
Among Montgomery’s assistants, goalie whisperer Bob Essensa has the important task of ensuring Korpisalo is seaworthy as Swayman’s backup. Essensa has worked with Vezina winners Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask, and Linus Ullmark in his 21 years on the job. No one expects Korpisalo to win hardware, but the Bruins would love to drum up some interest in his contract next summer.
ROOKIES
Center Poitras, puck mover Lohrei (13 P in 41 GP), and bottom-six grinder Johnny Beecher all spent their rookie eligibility last season by playing more than 25 games. Goaltender Bussi will never officially be a rookie now that he’s turned 26. 2024 first-round pick Dean Letourneau is years away. That doesn’t leave much ice time for rookies in 2024-25, but Lysell, 21, and Merkulov, 23, will hope to provide quality over quantity.
There’s a real hole at second-line right wing, and save for Pastrnak, Marchand, and Zacha, no one on the current NHL roster has the scoring chops for that role. Lysell is a former first-round pick and a more natural fit on the wing. Merkulov is further along in his development, and his experience at center could even push Poitras to the second line and Coyle out wide. Blocked out of depth roles by bigger, stronger forwards, Merkulov and Lysell are probably vying for the same roster spot.
BURNING QUESTIONS
1. How much does Brad Marchand have left in the tank? With the days of the Perfection Line shrinking in the rearview, Montgomery followed the conventional wisdom and spread his two best forwards across two different lines. The gulf between those forwards is wider than ever; Pastrnak chugged right along with another 40-goal, 110-point season while Marchand accompanied a second-consecutive 67-point effort with his first negative share of expected goals since his rookie season. Was it a product of Boston’s team-wide regression, or is the Rat just getting old? He’s 36, and if he stops producing at a top-six level, the Bruins scoring depth is toast.
2. Nikita Zadorov is big enough. Is he good enough? McAvoy’s partners have run small since Chara left town. That left him with a host of extra responsibilities in his zone, and it never made much sense pairing a talented puck-mover like McAvoy with another skilled guy anyway. Zadorov will bring the snarl McAvoy has missed on his left since Chara bolted. Is that worth $5.5 million AAV? Probably not. Zadorov needs to build on the glimpses of skill he’s shown in a lengthy career, and it’s troubling they’ve always been just that: glimpses. He’s built like a fridge and hits like a truck, but it’s time Zadorov proves he’s an actual top-four option. Sweeney is paying him like one.
3. What’s the magic number for Jeremy Swayman? Ullmark’s departure means the Boston net is at last Swayman’s. It also establishes the 25-year-old as the team’s third franchise pillar after Pastrnak and McAvoy. Those two are signed for the long haul, and by joining them Swayman, an RFA, would give the Bruins a nice high floor for at least the next half-decade. It’s hard to tell what the holdup is, especially after a comparable talent in Juuse Saros signed for a $7.74 million AAV earlier this offseason. Does Swayman’s camp want more? Or are the Bruins pinching pennies after throwing money at Lindholm and Zadorov?
PREDICTION
The Maple Leafs are in the process of a huge offseason shakeup, the Panthers are the defending champs, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are reloading for another run at the Cup with Jake Guentzel in and Steve Stamkos out. The Bruins had to improve to keep up, and they did that by nabbing perfect (if slightly overpaid) stylistic fits for their two biggest needs in Lindholm and Zadorov. Losing 40 games of Ullmark stings, but the winningest team of the 21st century has earned the benefit of the doubt. They’re a 100-point team as long as Pastrnak and Swayman stay healthy.
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